Slaven Bilic has refused the lay the blame at anyone's feet over West Ham's failed bid for Sporting midfielder William Carvalho.

The Hammers boss was quoted in the London Evening Standard as he commented on the growing furore surrounding the Portugal international, with West Ham and Sporting both slamming each other for their parts in the failed agreement.

Bilic, however, chose to remain on the fence about the ongoing issue, and merely expressed his sadness at being unable to strengthen a part of his starting lineup that he felt was in need of bolstering.

Carlos Rodrigues/GettyImages

He lamented: "There has been much said and written since. There is much I could say but I don’t want to, not because I am afraid to have my say but because that is not my style.

"I haven’t said anything before and I don’t want to start now. My job now isn’t to say what is the truth or who is to blame. My job is to raise the performance from what is a good squad of players which will get even better when everyone is fit.

"It was disappointing that we didn’t sign Carvalho because it looked as though it was going to happen and that defensive midfield position was one I have wanted to strengthen for some time.

BREAKING: Sporting Lisbon to report West Ham to FIFA for alleged "illegal approaches" to William Carvalho, according to Sky sources #SSNpic.twitter.com/2qxXG8oUyz

The Croat also responded to claims that he had already written off the 2017/18 campaign after West Ham lost all three of their opening matches of the season.

The Irons have tasted defeat against Manchester United, Southampton and Newcastle in three successive away games - results that prompted former West Ham defender Danny Gabbidon to suggest that Bilic had already "thrown in the towel".

Sporting CP chief calling David Gold & David Sullivan "the Dildo Brothers" is so good I may never attempt to think of an insult again

Bilic, though, refuted those accusations and stated that his side was ready to put those results behind them and get their season on track at last - starting with Monday's encounter with Huddersfield at the London Stadium.

He added: "I understand that Danny Gabbidon wrote in an article that it looked as though I had 'thrown in the towel' after the match two weeks ago.

"I want to reply to that. I told the players afterwards that, yes, this is West Ham and, yes, we will lose games. Not like that, though. It was unacceptable.

"I am not throwing in the towel and neither are the players. We will work hard to put this right — starting on Monday night. Now we have our first home game. It will be a special one and it is time to do something."

You May Like

More Soccer

Sign Up for our Newsletter

Don't get stuck on the sidelines! Sign up to get exclusives, daily highlights, analysis and more—delivered right to your inbox!